Gender gap increases as NSW women get paid less and work more, report finds

By Emma Partridge

UpdatedNovember 25, 2015 — 8.12amfirst published at 12.15am

The gender pay gap between men and women continues to increase despite more women finishing school and completing university degrees than men, a NSW government report shows.

Men earn about 20 per cent more on average and women working full-time earn $320 a week less than men.

Men earn about 20 per cent more than women on average and women working full-time earn $320 less than men, the NSW government report found.Credit:Erin Jonasson

The starting salary for a woman who has just finished university is also $4000 less than a man.

And while women's participation in the paid workforce is at its highest point since 1978, unemployment rates for women have overtaken those for men and are rising.

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NSW Minister for Mental Health Pru Goward Credit:Brendan Esposito

Women are also working harder than men at home, spending an average of 12.5 hours per week more on unpaid household work.

The Women in NSW 2015report analysed the past four years of data, including figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, to find out how women were faring and aimed to identify where work needed be done to address inequality.

It focused on key areas such as health, education, work and financial security, leadership and safety.

"It is through quality research, data and analysis, such as the Women in NSW report, that governments can formulate policies and programs that will bring about change and make women's lives better," Minister for Women Pru Goward said.

In education, women remained under-represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

And only 15.5 per cent of undergraduate Information Technology and Engineering students are women.

"This limits their opportunities to develop skills we know are essential for success in the future economy," Ms Goward said.

Yet three out of five undergraduate and postgraduate students were women and 77 per cent of girls finished Year 12, compared to 67 per cent of boys.

Alarmingly, the report also showed young women were 2.8 times more likely than young men to be hospitalised for self-harm.

Self-harm hospitalisations for women rose almost 38 per cent between in the four years to 2013-14.

"Young women's [ages 15 to 24] rate of hospitalisation for intentional self harm is the highest it's been in over 20 years," the report said.

Ms Goward said she would work with NSW Health to investigate further initiatives that would support and help young women at risk of self-harm.

"It is a sobering reminder for us all that we need to do better," she said.

On a more positive note, women had a greater life expectancy than men, on average reaching 85 years compared to 78.9 for men.

Women were also less likely to be obese, smoke and half as likely to engage in risky drinking.

On the issue of safety, women fared much worse than men, with females twice as likely as males to be victims of domestic related assaults.

Women were also 4.5 times more likely to be a victim of sexual assault than men, accounting for 82 per cent of victims in NSW in 2014.